Time travel on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway 11/06/13

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway is back after its recent trials with the landslips, first and Gotherington, and then at Chicken Curve. Back, and better than ever before! The new timetable is masterpiece; I was able to take a marvellous trip through time, starting with No:7903 'Foremarke Hall' (1949) at Cheltenham, changing to the diesel railcar (1958) at Winchcombe, and enjoying a drivers' eye view between Winchcombe and Toddington as well as over the extension to Laverton and then, rather appropriately, taking Class 47 47376 'Freightliner 1995' back to Cheltenham. It was this amazing variety of experiences, superb views and friendly volunteers which made my visit to the GWSR such a fantastic day out.

The journey

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway really offers something quite special in its new timetable this year which makes best use of the line's rich and varied fleet of steam and heritage diesel locomotives as well as the diesel multiple units I began my journey at Cheltenham Racecourse and were pleasantly surprised to see No:7903 'Foremarke Hall' at the head of the train as it pulled in as the loco roster had suggested the 8F would be running. This was an excellent substitution as 'Foremarke' was facing smokebox first into Cheltenham. The train and platform were busier than we would have expected for a non-school holidays Tuesday, I soon discovered the reason for this; several carriages of the train were reserved for coach parties. Even so, the train wasn't actually very busy - one of the benefits of a normal operating day over a gala is you can actually get a seat!All went well until Gotherington, or rather just after, where we ground to a halt. It appeared No:7903 had been able to create the vacuum to release the vacuum train brakes but not enough to maintain the vacuum and so keep them from coming on again. In case you're thinking the fireman's at fault, I'd like to add that it didn't seem to be a problem with a lack of steam - the safety valves lifted after a couple of minutes - and after some investigations to try and find the source of the problem (which could be on one of the carriages where a leak may have been letting air into the system and so putting the brakes on) by the fireman and guard we were got under way again and made no further unscheduled stops.

Riding on the railway again, as opposed to photographing the trains going by, I was reminded of the wonderful views of the Malverns and Vale of Evesham that slip past the carriage window.After passing through Greet Tunnel, which at 693 yards is the second longest on a preserved railway, we rolled into Winchcombe rather late. I hopped off 'Foremarke' there which then didn't leave for about 10 minutes, presumably while attempts were made to find the source of the problem. It evidently lay in No:7903, as when we passed through Toddington on the 'bubble car' she'd been removed from her train and later when we were supposed to pass No:7903 at Winchcombe we found Class 73 E6036 there instead. The 'bubble car' is a delightful little vehicle. Travelling in it was especially enjoyable because, as it wasn't very busy, I was able to get a seat right behind the cab which is only separated from passengers by a partition which is mostly glass. I think, and this is someone who as a rule prefers steam locomotives writing, that this is the best way to see the line since offered an interesting new perspective on the Winchcombe - Toddington section and a super view of the new extension on to Laverton.

When I returned to Toddington to wait for 47376 to come in it was interesting to see 'Thomas' being unloaded from his low loader in readiness for the line's Day Out With Thomas event over the weekend of the 22/23rd June. I had time to pay a visit to the newly refurbished Flag & Whistle tea rooms and enjoy some delicious rocky road and to the museum coach in the bay platform which provides a home for a selection of interesting railway related artefacts including a fireman's shovel with a section missing from the shovel, apparently because of shrapnel from a shell in WWI!It was interesting to ride behind 47376 although with its

End of the line - the current extent of the GWSR open north of Toddington seen from the cab of 'bubblecar' W55003 as it rolls into Laverton loop.

2,580bhp engine it was only really toying with its train of 6 MK1 particularly as the driver still managed to make some noise up the bank out of Winchcombe and on into the tunnel. This last bit was especially good with the sound of the Sultzer engine reverberating off the tunnel walls. All in all, a fantastic day out.

Small things add up

Toddington looked very smart indeed having been recently repainted. Here W55003 waits to depart for Winchcombe.

It was, for me, the small things which made my day out 'great', not just 'good'.The cleanliness and generally very smart appearance of everything on the railway, especially Toddington and Winchcombe stations, add to the period atmosphere and make the GWSR a very pleasant place to spend a day.The volunteers were not only all very smartly turned out but also extremely friendly and helpful, such as coming through 'Foremarke Hall's train when it stopped unexpectedly to explain the reason for the delay. We also really appreciated the fact that they were careful to avoid wearing hi-viz jackets in public areas unless necessary for operational reasons which makes the photos that bit less like they were taken in 2013!

Another nice small touch, and one which not all railways seem to manage to add, was that not only were our tickets checked on all the trains we travelled on, but each ticket inspector had a clipper that made a different shaped hole in the ticket. An Edmondson card ticket no less, another little detail which helps create an sense of your visit being a very special occasion when on some ailways your 'ticket' is little more than a till receipt which I'm sure is cheaper, but doesn't exactly add to the overall experience like using the 'proper' Edmondson tickets on the GWSR does!Finally, the GWSR clearly wants to improve what's already an excellent service. When we purchased our tickets were given a survey to fill out about our day and what they might improve to make things even better. As an incentive completed surveys are put into a monthly prize draw for a voucher for a family day rover ticket on a normal operating day (which the winner can be passed on to someone else). Lets just say other heritage lines could do with following the GWSR's example here..........We were also given a leaflet which showed the route with interesting information about the railway's surroundings (did you know that the River Isbourne near Winchcombe is said to be one of only two rivers in England which flow due north from their source? No, me neither) and the timetable for the day.These small touches made all the difference for me

Locomotives

Obviously, the main attraction of the green timetable which was running when we visited is the opportunity to ride behind/on three different types of motive power on one day, making for a memorable experience and perhaps one more like the real railway in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This was perhaps especially true with No:7903 'Foremarke Hall' in operation in its early BR livery. No:7903, it may surprise you to learn, will soon be unique. Why 'soon be''? Because only two 79xx 'modified halls' survived the cutter's torch and the other, No 7927 'Willington Hall', is being used as a source of parts for the new 'Grange'and 'County' class locomotives under construction (click the class names to find out more about these exciting projects). No:7903 was built under British Railways at Swindon works in 1949 to F.W Hawksworth's 'Modified Hall' design and spent most of its life with them at Old Oak Common shed, being withdrawn in June

No:7903 rests at Cheltenham Racecourse before running around its train. Click the image to see a bigger version and discover her claim to fame!

1964. She rusted away in Barry scrap yard until she became the 129th loco to leave in June 1981, being rescued by the Foremarke Hall Group and slowly restored on the Swindon & Crickdale Railway, returning to steam in 2003. Shortly afterward she moved to the GWSR where she's been a popular and generally reliable performer (my visit was obviously the exception proving the rule on reliability!). No:7903's failure meant diesel fans were able to enjoy an extra special treat with Class 73 electro-diesel E6036, which spends most of its time working the Permanent Way train, being pressed into service to replace 'Foremarke Hall'.I mentioned earlier that the Class 122 'bubblecar' was delightful; indeed it was. W55003 has what its owners, Cotswold Diesel Railcar, describe as a 'lively' ride due to its lightly sprung suspension . This lively' ride, a particularly memorable part of the day for me, was experienced where other trains run relatively smoothly along Defford Straight between Toddington and Winchcombe while at times the 'bubblecar' did a good impression of a bucking bronco! W55003 is a very appropriate machine to be based on the GWSR since it was built by Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Co in 1958 and evidence shows that not only did it work over what's now the GWSR near the end of it's life, but it actually operated some of the last passenger services on the line.

Class 47 47376 'Freightliner 1995's unusual name is a result of the fact that it was selected, in 1995, to launch the Freightliner company as it took over the Freightliner operations as British Railways was privatised. The loco was the first to carry the Freightliner two tone grey livery. Its last mainline working was in 2001 when it suffered a catastrophic engine failure and was sold into preservation in 2002, moving to Toddington from Southampton via Ashchurch for an engine swap with 47295 in 2003. It was rededicated as 'Freightliner 1995' in September 2005 and is now in the care of the Brush Type 4 Fund.(Click any of the images in the slide show to see a bigger version)

Conclusions

Few railways can match the wonderful overall experience offered by the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway - great views, great variety of motive power almost every day, great attention to detail, great volunteers. You really should pay them a visit. Now, where's my calendar to pencil that one in........................

By the end of the day, technology had moved on enough to record proceedings in colour! Here 47376 'Freightliner 1995' waits to leave Cheltenham Racecourse with the last train of the day, bringing the curtain down on an amazing day travelling through time on the GWSR